Denmark on Thursday smashed the men’s team pursuit world record for the third time in two days as they raced to the gold medal at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships.
Lasse Norman Hansen, Julius Johansen, Frederik Rodenberg Madsen and Rasmus Pedersen clocked 3 minutes, 44.672 seconds, having lowered it to 3 minutes, 46.203 seconds on Wednesday.
Silver went to New Zealand, with Italy beating defending champions Australia for the bronze.
Photo: AFP
The Berlin track has seen several records fall in two days — including a world record twice for the Netherlands sprint team on Wednesday.
“The track is very fast,” France team manager Bruno Lecki said. “The temperature and pressure favor records.”
On Thursday, three other world titles were decided.
In the scratch — a 15km non-Olympic event — Belarusian Yauheni Karaliok emerged triumphant, while Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen, who helped his team to the team sprint world title, added the keirin — an Olympic event — to his collection. Defending world champion Matthijs Buchli, also of the Netherlands, was only fourth in his semi-final.
In the women’s events, the US won the team pursuit ahead of Britain and Germany.
UAE TOUR CANCELED OVER COVID-19
The final two stages of the UAE Tour, which is featuring some of the world’s leading riders, has been canceled due to two Italian participants testing positive for COVID-19, the Abu Dhabi Sports Council said on Thursday.
The Council did not identify anyone, but said that all of the race participants, staff and organizers were being screened for the flu-like virus.
“The decision has been taken to ensure protection of all the race’s participants,” the Council said in a statement, adding that “safety comes at the top of all priorities.”
Several riders had earlier used social media to confirm that they were being tested and that the event had been canceled.
“It’s a shame that the #UAETour has been cancelled but public health must come first,” four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome, making his comeback from injury at the race, said. “We are all awaiting testing and will remain at the hotel until further notice. I hope those affected make a speedy recovery and there aren’t any further cases #coronavirus.”
Media reports said that the official race hotel in Abu Dhabi was sealed off late on Thursday.
A report on the Web site of Cycling News said that riders, staff and journalists were not allowed to leave pending health checks.
The situation could have implications for the world track championships in Berlin.
Danish rider Michael Morkov was at the UAE Tour until Wednesday and was due to join the Danish team in the German capital on Thursday, ahead of Sunday’s madison.
A spokesperson from the British Cycling team in Berlin said that the team doctor was liaising with the UCI medical team.
The last two stages of the UAE Tour had been scheduled to be staged from Al Ruwais to Al Mirfa (158 km) on Saturday and Al Maryah Island to Abu Dhabi (127 km) on Sunday.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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